News Bulletin : 01 November 2023

Revered President Maharaj is undergoing treatment for some ailments in Peerless Hospital, Kolkata, where he was admitted on 27 September.  His condition is stable.

Swami Gautamanandaji is at Belur Math.  He will be visiting Mayal Ichapur from 8 to 11 November, and Jayrambati and Kamarpukur from 19 November to 1 December.

Swami Suhitanandaji will be visiting Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia from 16 November to 21 December.

Swami Bhajananandaji is at Belur Math.

Swami Girishanandaji will be visiting Nimpith from 9 to 11 November, and Karimganj, Haflong and Silchar from 15 November to 10 December.

All of them are keeping well.

Swami Gautamanandaji inaugurated the new archway at Belur Math on 14 October, the birthday of Swami Akhandanandaji Maharaj.  Built near the museum on the road leading to Sri Ramakrishna Temple, the archway commemorates the 125th anniversary of the Ramakrishna Mission.  On the same day, Ramakrishnananda Bhavan (residence for the Vice-Presidents of the order) was also dedicated.  Swami Bhajananandaji, Swami Girishanandaji, the General Secretary and many sadhus and brahmacharins attended the two inauguration ceremonies.

Durga Puja was celebrated at Belur Math from 21 to 24 October with great joy and devotional fervour.  The weather was fine on all the days except for a little rain on Navami and Dashami. Thousands of devotees thronged the puja pandal on all the days to have darshan of the Divine Mother and receive Her blessings.  Prasad was served to 59,000 devotees on the Ashtami day and, in total, to 1,42,000 devotees during the four days.

[Durga Puja Videos]

A new centre of the Ramakrishna Mission has been started in Tamil Nadu near Thirumukkudal village, famous for an ancient Vishnu temple.

The address of the centre is

Ramakrishna Mission,
Village Pazhaveri (near Thirumukkudal),
Taluk Uthiramerur, Dist. Kanchipuram,
Tamil Nadu 631606, India
Phone : 99444 14274
Email id : thirumukkudal@rkmm.org

Chennai Math hosted an intrafaith meeting on 14 October.  It was attended by 250 students and devotees.

Delhi centre conducted a seminar on “Swami Vivekananda’s contribution towards building our nation” on 1 October.  Mr Arif Mohammad Khan, Governor of Kerala, and a few scholars spoke at the seminar which was attended by 400 devotees.

Gol Park centre held a two-day seminar on “Swami Vivekananda’s concept of divinity in man and practical Vedanta” on 11 and 12 October.  The General Secretary inaugurated the seminar in which scholars from India and abroad presented papers.  While the inaugural and valedictory sessions were open to all, the three academic sessions, restricted to registered delegates, were attended by 150 people.

Jaipur centre hosted a seminar on “Swami Vivekananda’s contribution towards nation-building” on 7 October.  Sri Devendra Bhushan Gupta, Chief Information Commissioner, Rajasthan, and others addressed a gathering of 350 students and devotees.

Kankhal Sevashrama conducted an intrafaith meeting on 16 October in which monks from different Hindu traditions presented their views.  About 200 people participated in the meeting.

Kozhikode centre released the Malayalam version of the documentary on the Ramakrishna Mission ‘Blooming Lotus of Humanity’ in a function held on 8 October.

Pala centre held ‘Namami Samskritam’ programme on four days – 7, 8, 14 and 15 October – to promote the Sanskrit language.  A Harikatha in Sanskrit, conference on yoga, training programme for Sanskrit school teachers, conference of ayurveda doctors and cultural programmes were held.  In all, about 500 people attended the events.

Rajkot centre hosted a public meeting, presided over by Swami Gautamanandaji, on 29 September.  A commemorative volume titled Ramakrishna Mission in Gujarat was released.  Around 450 devotees attended the event.

Swamiji’s Ancestral House conducted cultural competitions in which 960 students took part. The winners were given away prizes on 2 October.  Also, the centre hosted a seminar on the Ramakrishna Movement on 29 September which was attended by 150 people.

A number of our centres celebrated Durga Puja in a grand manner.  At the following 31 centres, the Divine Mother was invoked and worshipped in the image from 21 to 24 October: Antpur, Asansol, Barasat, Bilaspur, Contai, Cooch Behar, Delhi, Dhaleswar (Agartala), Digboi, Ghatshila, Guwahati, Gwalior, Jalpaiguri, Jamshedpur, Jayrambati, Kailashahar, Kamarpukur, Karimganj, Kasundia (Howrah), Lucknow, Malda, Medinipur, Mumbai, Patna, Port Blair, Rahara, Sahudangi, Shella (under Sohra), Shyamsayer (Bardhaman), Silchar and Varanasi Advaita Ashrama.

Smt Meenakshi Lekhi, Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture, and other dignitaries attended Durga Puja at Delhi centre.

Swami Gautamanandaji inaugurated the newly built second floor of the Vivekananda Institute of Value Education and Culture building at Rajkot centre on 29 September.  The new floor will be used for conducting coaching classes, computer training and other activities.

Kalyani centre held a public meeting on 1 October to mark the taking over of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Seva Sangha, Kalyani, and the starting of a branch of the Mission there.  The General Secretary presided over the meeting.  This new centre was announced in the July 2023 Bulletin.

The General Secretary inaugurated a bookstore at Baranagar Mission Ashrama on 6 October.

The convocation ceremony of the off-campus centre of RKMVERI (deemed university) at Coimbatore Mission Vidyalaya was held on 11 October.  Dr Subhas Sarkar, Union Minister of State, Ministry of Education, delivered the convocation address.  Certificates and degrees were awarded to 228 successful candidates.

Swami Gautamanandaji opened the recently built first and second floors of staff quarters at Vrindavan centre on 11 October.

Swami Gautamanandaji dedicated the newly extended Sri Ramakrishna Temple at Narendrapur centre on 15 October.  Special worship, a public meeting and sadhu bhandara were held in this connection.

The General Secretary inaugurated a smart classroom and a stage at our Ramharipur school on 16 October.

Ms Anna-Maja Henriksson, Finland’s Minister of Education, visited Chennai Students’ Home on 20 October.  Mr Kimmo Lahdevirta, Ambassador of Finland to India; Mr Chidambaram, Honorary Consul, Consulate of Finland, Chennai; and others accompanied her during the visit.

Five students of class 9 of Narendrapur Vidyalaya secured top ranks in the Vidyasagar Science Olympiad conducted by Jagadis Bose National Science Talent Search, Kolkata.

In a national level boot camp, named Tinkerpreneur, conducted by NITI Aayog, Government of India, from 8 June to 24 July, students of our Viveknagar school, Agartala, secured the sixth position.  Tinkerpreneur is an initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among students.

Students of our Hatamuniguda school participated in different academic olympiads conducted by SilverZone Foundation, New Delhi, and secured 23 gold, 15 silver and 10 bronze medals.

Newly set-up STEM laboratories were opened at the schools run by Chennai Sarada Vidyalaya (on 13 October), Kalady (on 19 October), Kozhikode (on 8 October), Purulia (on 6 October), Ramharipur (on 16 October) and Thrissur (on 9 October) centres.  (STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.)

Viveknagar centre, Agartala, hosted a workshop on disaster management from 21 to 30 September, in collaboration with District Disaster Management Authority, Tripura West district.  The workshop was attended by 1000 students.

On 30 September, Basavanagudi centre, Bengaluru, felicitated three scientists of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Bengaluru, in recognition of their contribution to the successful Chandrayan-3 and Aditya L1 missions of ISRO.  The three scientists addressed a gathering of 350 engineering students at the function.

Sri Ratan Lal Nath, Minister of Power and other departments, Government of Tripura, visited Kankurgachhi centre on 1 October.

Mangaluru centre launched the second round of Swachchha Mangaluru, a cleanliness campaign, on 1 October.  About 800 youths took part in the cleanliness drive on that day.

Cossipore centre conducted a special retreat for doctors on 15 October attended by 140 doctors.

The new MRI scan facility at Kankhal Sevashrama was inaugurated on 16 October.

Durga Puja (in the image) was performed at Durban (South Africa) centre, Lusaka (Zambia) centre, Mauritius Ashrama, and 15 centres in Bangladesh, namely Bagerhat, Baliati, Barisal, Chandpur, Chittagong, Comilla, Dhaka, Dinajpur, Faridpur, Habiganj, Jashore, Mymensingh, Narayanganj, Rangpur and Sylhet, and at the Narail sub-centre of Jashore Ashrama.

Sri Ashok Kumar, High Commissioner of India to Zambia, attended Durga Puja at Lusaka centre on 22 October.

Sri Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Prime Minister of the Republic of Mauritius, attended Durga Puja in Mauritius centre on 21 October.

Websites: The following centres have changed their website addresses:

The following centres held programmes mentioned against their names:

India:

Almora: A seminar on “Inclusion of Swami Vivekananda’s Ideas in the National Education Policy” at Soban Singh Jeena University, Almora, on 30 September.  The seminar was attended by 500 delegates and guests.  On this occasion, Swami Vivekananda Spiritual Circuit Study Centre was inaugurated at the university.

Belagavi: A three-day residential workshop on personality development from 21 to 24 September in which 35 college students participated.

Chennai Math (at Vivekananda Cultural Centre): Eleven workshops on values education in September; in all, about 600 students from 4 colleges took part in the workshops.

Davanagere: A values education programme on 3 October attended by 32 teacher trainees.

Gurugram: (i) Fifteen workshops, including five in online mode, on values education for teaching staff of primary and middle schools from 28 August to 23 September; in all, 662 school teachers from different parts of India participated.  (ii) A workshop for parents on 14 and 15 September, attended by 31 people.  (iii) A women empowerment programme on 11 and 18 September attended by 21 women.

Jhargram: Talks at 17 schools and a college in Jhargram district from 1 August to 15 October attended by a total of 4320 students and 227 teachers.

Mysuru (on RIMSE campus): (i) Three residential retreats for students, teachers and staff of three institutions in July and September in which altogether 268 people took part. (ii) Twenty-one workshops on personality development from July to September which were attended by 1657 school and college students in all.

Rajkot: Four values education programmes at the Ashrama and 2 programmes in schools from 25 September to 22 October in which altogether 1816 students took part.

Tamluk: Talks on human values and cultural competitions in two phases in 43 schools and 5  colleges from April to September in which altogether 24,000 students took part.  The prize distribution ceremony for the second phase of the competitions was held on 29 September and was attended by 360 people.

Thanjavur: Two cultural and educational programmes on 15 and 21 October in which a total of 109 students took part.

The following centres held youths’ conventions.  The programmes included guided meditation, prayer, special talks by eminent personalities, group discussions, physical exercises and games.

The following centres conducted medical camps.  A summary of the services provided by them is given below.

Bankura: Eye camps from 1 September to 28 October in which a total of 744 eye patients were screened, 118 were operated on and 67 were given spectacles.

Coimbatore Mission: Seven medical camps (2 cardiology, 1 eye, 1 orthopaedic and 3 general camps) in rural and tribal areas of Coimbatore district from 1 to 22 October in which a total of 423 patients were treated.

Durban, South Africa: A medical camp and a blood donation camp on 8 October in which 193 patients were treated and 15 units of blood were collected.

Gurap: An eye camp in October in which 21 patients were checked; 7 of them were operated on at an eye hospital.

Jammu: A medical camp on 13 October in which 22 doctors treated 677 patients.

Jamshedpur: An eye camp on 13 October in which 75 patients were screened and 41 were operated on for cataract.

Kamarpukur: 392 eye patients were checked, 55 were operated on and 94 were given spectacles in October.

Lucknow: 7716 eye patients were checked and 319 were operated on and given spectacles in September.

Manasadwip: (i) Conducted an eye camp on 1 October in which 197 patients were treated.  (ii) Arranged cataract surgery for 47 patients on 12 October in association with another institution.

Naora: (i) Three medical camps (2 ayurvedic and 1 general) on 1, 14 and 15 September: altogether 274 patients were treated.  (ii) Four eye camps from 16 to 28 September: a total of 278 patients were checked and 24 were operated on.

Nattarampalli: An eye camp on 15 October in which 313 patients were treated, 83 were given spectacles and 77 were referred to surgery.

Porbandar: An eye camp on 13 October: 81 patients were treated and subsequently 51 were operated on for cataract in an eye hospital.

Rahara: A medical camp in Canning block of South 24 Parganas district on 24 September in which 774 patients were treated.

Ranchi Morabadi: An eye camp in September in which 307 patients were checked and 5 were operated on for cataract.

Salem: (i) An eye camp on 8 October: 152 patients were checked, 29 were given spectacles and 40 were operated on at an eye hospital.  (ii) A medical camp on 8 October attended by 681 patients.

Swamiji’s Ancestral House: A blood donation camp on 1 October in which 62 persons donated blood.

Thanjavur: Two medical camps (1 general and 1 dental) on 1 and 12 October in which a total of 281 patients were treated.